Why do patients self discharge? Some patients begin rehab but do not complete their recommended rehab treatment program.
These self-discharged patients put both their health and their quality of life at risk. Their choice hurts both them and the physical therapists who want to help them make an optimal recovery.
Some may choose not to complete treatment because of health care costs or the inconvenience of the attending appointments. But some also may lose confidence in the therapy services because the pain they experience is not lessened during their initial visit.
To make matters worse, they may express this lack of confidence to family and friends, resulting in both lost revenue to-and a negative and unfair assessment of-the physical therapy practice.
Reducing Self-Discharge
Timothy Tyler, PT, MS, ATC, believed that some of his patients self-discharged due to pain. He wondered if applying Biofreeze Pain Reliever during a patient's initial evaluation would decrease this rate of self-discharge.
He was aware of a previous study that showed that the application of Biofreeze on patients with non-complicated, neck pain gave greater pain reduction, lasted longer and was preferred in nine out of 10 patients when compared to ice.1
Tyler examined the rate of self-discharge in his physical therapy clinic over a three-year period. This historical rate of self-discharge was calculated by taking the total number of self-discharges divided into the total number of new patients during the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. The average self-discharge rate for that three-year period was 6.5 percent.
In the Clinic and at Home
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The rate of self-discharges during the Biofreeze-application program period (January through May 2010) dropped to 1.6 percent (from 6.5 percent)-a 75-percent reduction.
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Beginning in January 2010, all patients presenting for an initial evaluation received an application of Biofreeze Pain Relieving Spray on their area of chief complaint at the end of their in-clinic visit. The patients also performed therapeutic exercises, received appropriate manual therapy and appropriate modalities.
For their home care, they received a bottle of Biofreeze Spray with the instructions to use the Biofreeze product three times a day at regularly spaced intervals and not to use it in conjunction with any other form of cryotherapy or heat therapy.
Although only Biofreeze Spray was used in this pilot study, the pain relieving benefits of Biofreeze are the same in all formats available-gel, spray or wipe-to provide application options.
The rate of self-discharges during the Biofreeze-application program period (January through May 2010) dropped to 1.6 percent (from 6.5 percent)-a 75-percent reduction.
Financial Implications
Reducing patients' discomfort during their initial evaluation and providing them with a topical pain reliever like Biofreeze for at-home care may increase the likelihood that they'll return for additional sessions. A lower the number of self-dischargers should result in an increase in revenue as well as in positive referrals.
But most importantly, a patient who returns has a much greater chance for recovery.
"It is very gratifying to see patients return for more of my care," stated Tyler. "Obviously, when patients stay on track with their rehab program, we can help them recover more quickly and maintain a pain-free and healthy lifestyle."
Reference
1. Bishop, B., et al. (2009). Effects of Biofreeze vs. Ice on Acute, Non-Complicated Neck Pain (Abstract). Proceedings of the 11th Annual TRAC Meeting. Cancun, Mexico. July 25-27, p. 20.
Ethan Pochman is director of clinical marketing for Performance Health, based in Akron, OH.